Assignment

IF ICARUS WERE A WOMAN, I think she would wear macaw wings. They would be big and beautiful and stunningly colored. And they would be made from real feathers, not wax. That way, if she flew close to the sun, they wouldn’t melt, and she wouldn’t fall. If Icarus were a woman, she would be too smart to do something dumb like that. She would fly forever and as high as she wanted, and what a beautiful sight she would be.

Photographed while on a project for Discover Cards just for fun.

Approach

I am always looking to tack on personal projects to commissioned work if I can, to take full advantage of a place or a situation. This was one of those cases. I was already doing a studio shoot for Discover and knew I would have time to do something for myself. And wonder of wonders, I bumped into this beautiful black woman, asked her to model, got some birds on a whim, and just shot a bunch of portraits of her. I kept the lighting simple, using only one strobe. and photographed her against a backdrop, hoping to end up with something magical. And I think I did. I loved where we ended up. I always go into a shoot with a good idea of what I’m trying to create, but this was one of those situations where the end result exceeded my expectations. I love it when intention meets serendipity.

Results

The results have been fantastic. Wherever I post the image, the reaction has been wonderful - and that is what you are looking for with these personal projects. You just want people to love the imagery, and hopefully, as a result, keep you in mind for a future, paying project. And honestly, in the end, I just want to create something beautiful even if nobody cares.